Horizon 2/19 - 2/27

[chambsti]

We just pulled into Miami and are waiting to get off the ship so I thought I’d post a few items from our trip. 
 

1.  This was our first post Covid trip and it was so good to get back on a ship. We look forward to many more trips in the future!

 

2.  Enforcement of mask wearing was non existent. The crew was diligent about wearing theirs, but the guests were not and I didn’t see a single guest being asked to wear one. As the week went on fewer and fewer people wore them. 
 

3.  Food was OK, but not up to where it once was. Bacon is still being rationed and served every other day. No bananas at the buffet either. 
 

4.  They seem to be short staffed in terms of waitstaff. Very few servers roaming the pool decks to take drink orders and bars didn’t seem to have enough bartenders either. 
 

5.  We were disappointed by the entertainment. The shows were so-so and piano bar host was the least enjoyable we’ve ever had.  Comics were also not up to par. 
 

6.  Stateroom service is still once a day. 
 

7.  Debarking is by muster station and taking longer than we’ve ever experienced. 
 

We had a very nice vacation and will definitely return. While this was not our best experience on a carnival ship, it was wonderful to spend 8 days in the warm Caribbean sun and look forward to returning!

[hillbilly cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

We are leaving Saturday.

Haven't seen much on the Horizon.

[tidecat]

I just got off this sailing.

 

I agree it was good to be back - and the Southern Caribbean itinerary is amazing, even if the calls to Bonaire and La Romana are a bit on the shorter side.

 

Basically to follow @chambsti:

 

2. Passenger mask compliance degraded throughout the week. I did see some crew make efforts to enforce it, in particular in Lido and the Liquid Lounge, but this was largely an exercise in futility.

 

3. I leaned heavy into specialty dining on this cruise. The Teppenyaki was great, Steakhouse was good (the chocolate sphere dessert is a bit underwhelming), and Ji Ji's is probably one of the best values in terms of specialty dining. What I had in the MDR was good, although I miss the "port of call" selections. Agree that fruit seemed limited in the buffet.

 

4. I didn't have any issues with waitstaff, although apparently a few had to quarantine later in the week. I had longer waits to get drink orders filled pre-pandemic.

 

5. I never got to go into the Piano Bar as it was constantly at capacity. Kristin Linder was OK, Jersey and Tim Bateman were good. The Celestial Strings show was great. Vintage Pop had a few questionable selections (Fergie's "A Little Party Never Hurt Nobody" getting full EDM treatment comes to mind), but was still a cool show. "Amor Cubano" felt a little underwhelming, although the backing band for that show was good. I didn't see either show from Consuela Ivy, who was a last-minute replacement for "One Night Only", as the Horizon Rockband is supposedly in quarantine.

 

6. I haven't cruised long enough to experience 2X stateroom service, so honestly that doesn't bother me. 

 

7. There was initially an issue with the facial recognition system this morning, so that did delay debarkation. I still made the 9:30 shuttle with luggage tag #11, which didn't leave until about 9:45, and I wasn't close to the last one on the bus. Did not have an interaction with CBP personnel, so when the system works, it works.

 

My biggest complaint? The penny slots were awfully tight.

[chambsti]

@tidecat How’d you feel about the new elevator system?  I heard many complaints about it at first but people eventually seemed to get the hang of it. 
 

By the time we finally got off the ship moving through CBP was a breeze. The Carnival shuttle to MIA was a disorganized mess from start to finish and several families missed 12:00 PM flights as a result.

[Indytraveler83]

42 minutes ago, chambsti said:

@tidecat How’d you feel about the new elevator system?  I heard many complaints about it at first but people eventually seemed to get the hang of it. 

 

We cruised on the Horizon in November, and it was our first time with those elevators.

 

To be honest- I really liked them.  While it seems to take forever for one to get to you, once it's there, it feels like an express ride to your floor.

 

While I'm not sure if they get you anywhere faster, they do seem to ensure you spend less time in the elevator itself, and less time stopping and jostling people as they get in and out. 

[tidecat]

47 minutes ago, chambsti said:

@tidecat How’d you feel about the new elevator system?  I heard many complaints about it at first but people eventually seemed to get the hang of it. 
 

By the time we finally got off the ship moving through CBP was a breeze. The Carnival shuttle to MIA was a disorganized mess from start to finish and several families missed 12:00 PM flights as a result.

Other than embarkation day when it is either overloaded with requests, or being overridden for luggage handling, I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Carnival probably should put some signage directing people to the midship and/or aft elevators on embarkation day since people will naturally gravitate to the forward elevators. On past cruises I have even seen an elevator dedicated specifically to Lido traffic, which would be useful on the Horizon.

 

Between having to walk from the bus drop off to the Southwest ticket counter (which was painfully slow), and then spending nearly one hour in the security line, I was actually getting nervous about my 1:10 flight despite arriving at the airport three hours beforehand.

[mondello]

5 hours ago, chambsti said:

 

By the time we finally got off the ship moving through CBP was a breeze. The Carnival shuttle to MIA was a disorganized mess from start to finish and several families missed 12:00 PM flights as a result.

4 hours ago, tidecat said:

 

Between having to walk from the bus drop off to the Southwest ticket counter (which was painfully slow), and then spending nearly one hour in the security line, I was actually getting nervous about my 1:10 flight despite arriving at the airport three hours beforehand.

Wow, can't believe anyone would miss a noon flight from MIA! I've never used the Carnival shuttle bus in any port. MIA isn't that far or expensive from POM. Uber/Lyft/taxi are definitely faster and most likely cheaper. Sounds like the TSA lines at MIA may have been the bigger problem?